Demon Sword Maiden

Lily could not help recalling Rinne’s warning, and only then did she feel lingering fear. Fortunately, she had not encountered a Great Imperial God in Takamagahara. With her current strength, she would have had absolutely no power to resist before such an existence.

She also worried that if only she were sent upward, or at most a few sisters along with her, what would become of the other sisters? The Dark Celestial Maidens, the people of the Female Queendom, and even the Hundred Maidens she had taken in as slaves, she could not simply abandon them all. Although Mother was here, Izanami was an unfathomable mother. On a whim, she might even marry Lily off herself. Standing so high above, would she truly care for those ordinary Celestial Maidens?

Yet now, Lily felt ashamed of her distrust toward Izanami. To think she had viewed her own mother this way. How narrow-minded, how petty, how small she had been. Izanami truly should punish such a version of herself again, harshly.

As soon as she thought of this, and realized she was about to part from Izanami, reluctance welled up in her heart. Since coming to this world, she had had no relatives at all. Along the way, she had met many elder and younger sisters, but in the end, she had never had a mother.

1

Now that she finally had a mother who doted on her, even if she was strict and hard to read, Lily was more than willing to accept it.

“Mom…” For reasons she herself did not understand, at the thought of parting, tears began to fall from Lily’s eyes.

“What is it, my daughter? Are you reluctant to part with Mommy?”

“Mom, I can no longer stay by your side to serve you. Please take care of yourself. All of my journeys and trials in Yomi-no-kuni were possible only because of Mother’s care.” Lily knelt at Izanami’s feet and bowed with heartfelt sincerity.

“Tch, why make it so solemn? It’s not as if you won’t be able to come back and see Mother again.”

“But from now on, heaven and earth will separate us…”

“Do not worry, Lily. We, mother and daughter, will meet again very soon.” Izanami said meaningfully.

Hearing this, Lily felt somewhat reassured. Izanami possessed boundless insight. Words spoken like this would not be groundless.

“Then, at the moment of parting, how shall we leave behind a memento?” Izanami said, as if pondering something.

“Eh?” For no reason at all, Lily began to feel uneasy.

Izanami lit her pipe and leisurely took a couple of puffs, deftly twirling the long pipe between her fingers before extending it toward Lily’s lips as she knelt upright before her.

“Come, take a puff.”

“Eh? I… I do not know how.”

“Tch, it’s fine. Just one puff.” Izanami coaxed.

However, smoking a pipe in front of her sisters might not… Lily had always believed that a good girl should not smoke. Her heart resisted strongly, yet refusing Izanami’s request at such a moment was difficult, leaving her in deep conflict.

At this moment, Rei suddenly knelt beside Lily. “Madam, Lily truly is not the type of girl who is good at smoking. If someone must smoke, please allow me to take her place.”

“You? Who are you to her? What right do you have to take her place?” Izanami said displeased.

“Madam, if that will not do, then allow me to take her place.” Kaguya-hime said hesitantly.

Ayaka had just been about to step forward when she was pushed aside by a waft of fragrant wind, feeling suddenly powerless.

“I will do it!” Bishamonten stepped forward and said.

“Bishamonten, you are far too bold and forthright. Letting you smoke would be meaningless. But since you say that, I rather want to see Kaguya-hime smoke. You now call yourself a queen, yet in the past you were merely an obedient girl in the bamboo grove. Very well. If you are willing to smoke one puff in Lily’s place, I will allow it.” Izanami said.

“Thank you, Madam!”

Rei felt somewhat dejected and could only withdraw. Kaguya-hime knelt beside Lily. Izanami’s long pipe slid with an intrusive air across Lily’s lips, then reached Kaguya’s lips. She lightly teased the queen’s lower lip, prying her mouth open slightly. This made the queen’s face flush crimson, humiliation flooding her heart.

“Your Majesty!” Chiya could not bear to watch, yet she was still held back by Bishamonten.

With the queen’s mouth pried open, Izanami casually pushed the pipe in.

“Inhale.” Izanami commanded.

“Mm…” For Lily’s sake, the queen steeled herself, furrowed her brows, shut her eyes, and took a deep puff.

“Ugh, cough, cough, cough!” The puff had been far too strong. The tobacco Izanami smoked was anything but mild. Choking, Queen Kaguya braced herself on the ground, her chest heaving beneath the white and pale-violet feathered robes.

Izanami slowly withdrew the pipe, leaving behind a glistening strand.

“Your Majesty…” Lily knelt and supported Queen Kaguya, gently patting her back.

“It’s fine. Just one puff of smoke. Madam’s magnanimity is truly extraordinary.” The queen said between breaths.

“Very well. I will spare you from the pipe, Lily. However, you must eat another thing of mine.” Izanami said teasingly. It seemed she still had no intention of letting Lily off easily.

“Eh?” Lily gasped in alarm.

Izanami reached beneath her skirt and took out something large and dark, startling Lily and several of the girls into a sudden flutter of fear.

2

However, under the dim yellow light, they finally saw clearly. It was a long, massive skewer of crystal-clear candied hawthorns, each piece plump and glistening.

“So that’s what it is. I thought Mother was about to do something unimaginable again.” Lily let out a sigh of relief.

“Come, my daughter. Eat some candy.”

As she spoke, Izanami brought the long skewer to Lily’s lips. Yet the candied hawthorns were quite large, and Lily felt she could not fit even one bite into her mouth.

“This… this is so big… how can I eat it…” Lily said awkwardly. Eating like this in front of all the sisters was far too embarrassing. She was not a child, and she was not particularly fond of candied hawthorns to begin with.

“Madam, such a thick and long skewer may be too much for Lily alone. Why not let me help my little sister eat it together?” Rei knelt beside Lily.

wjb! Leave it to the author to make it sound so suggestive even in such context… Or maybe it’s just me with my lewd mind?” title=”” aria-describedby=”qtip-2”>3

“Madam, let me help share the burden for my sister. Ah, no, I mean, share it together, if that is acceptable…” Ayaka finally mustered her courage and knelt beside Lily. At a time like this, backing down would be the same as handing over the right to protect Lily to someone else.

“Do I get some too, Mother?” Shimizu giggled as she knelt in line.

“Shut up. Who is your mother?”

Seeing the sisters kneeling one after another, all vying to help Lily out of her predicament, Izanami smiled helplessly. “Very well. You truly are Lily’s good sisters. In that case, each of you gets one.”

Thus, starting with Lily, including Rei, Shimizu, Ayaka, Kaguya, and even Nanako, the sisters all knelt beside Izanami, beginning with Lily.

Lily brushed her long hair aside, revealing her fair side profile and ear, then took a deep breath. The crystal-clear candied hawthorns did, truth be told, look rather appetizing. Lily could not help her throat trembling as she swallowed. Blushing deeply, she closed her eyes and opened her small mouth as wide as she could, straining greatly as she worked to take the candied hawthorn into her mouth.

4

“Mmm…” Lily exerted all her strength and finally took in a single candied hawthorn.

Unexpectedly, the candied hawthorn released a delightful flavor the moment it entered her mouth. Lily felt her entire body grow light and buoyant, an indescribable comfort spreading through her limbs.

The sisters found it somewhat difficult as well, each of them managing to eat one piece.

“Eh?”

The sisters looked at one another in astonishment. Faint golden light began to radiate from their bodies. Every single one of them felt a clear improvement in the Charm Heavenly Path within their bodies, and their physical constitutions had strengthened as well.

For someone like Nanako, whose foundation had been very weak, the improvement was even more dramatic. Her physique was directly elevated to the level of a Celestial Battle Maiden, while her Charm Heavenly Path leapt straight from the First Stage to the Fourth.

Ayaka and Rei both saw their Charm Heavenly Path advance by one full stage as well.

Several of the sisters stared at Izanami in shock.

“Originally, this skewer was meant for Lily alone. But since you were all so sincere, I decided to let you gain some benefits as well. To dare step forward and shield a sister from something like this, how many people in the world could do so? Consider this your destined fortune,” Izanami said.

“Thank you, Madam!” The sisters all bowed in gratitude.

“Alright, the timing is about right. I am going to begin setting up the formation and performing the ritual. Go on.” Izanami waved her hand.

“Mom…”

The sisters rose to their feet. Only Lily remained facing Izanami, performing three solemn bows. Each bow was as deep as possible, her chest nearly touching the ground.

“Your daughter is leaving.”

At this moment, Lily held onto the hands of several sisters, unwilling to part. Every few steps, she turned back, tears brimming in her eyes.

This was her mother in the Heian world, the mother of a girl who had come from another world. The bond between mother and daughter was so profound that it defied words.

Yet Lily was strong. No matter how reluctant she felt, she understood that in the Heian Dynasty, her sisters might already be facing danger. She had to go.

“Mother, I hope that, as you said, we will soon reunite.”

Star-like tears scattered from Lily’s eyes. With a sweep of her long sleeve, she leapt into the air together with her sisters, soaring toward Herikaku City.

Izanami watched her daughter fly away, her expression turning complicated for a brief moment. She picked up her pipe, wiped it against her sleeve, closed her eyes, and calmly took a puff.

Suddenly, the pipe vanished.

“You may return now. I will perform the ritual here. Within a radius of thousands of miles, distance itself will be affected. You would not be able to withstand it. Go back and carry out the tasks I assigned to you.” Izanami said to the final two still at her side, Rakshasa-Onna and Asura-Onna. As for the eight massive demon gods that had been dragging Herikaku City, they had already completed their sentences. Their merits fulfilled, their chains had been removed earlier, and they had been released.

“Yes!” The two knelt to pay their respects, then each activated a teleportation talisman, departing in flashes of light.

The Madam of Yomi spread her great sleeves wide. Two falling crimson hems nearly brushed the ground. Her long hair billowed, and the trailing skirt behind her rose like a flying rainbow. Within a radius of thousand miles, the earth split apart, forming an ancient grand formation composed entirely of abyssal fissures.

Izanami unleashed terrifying energy that struck fear into all Three Realms. Even the heavens, the earth, the sun, and the moon were nothing more than this.

Endless dark-golden rivers of energy poured forth from Izanami’s body, filling formation channels that resembled dried riverbeds.

The entire formation absorbed Izanami’s ocean-like, boundless Great Imperial God power and began to emit a dark-golden glow. It was not especially bright, yet it surged with overwhelming might.

Sweat continuously seeped from Izanami’s brow as she recited an incomparably complex and prolonged incantation. Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

“Kamimusubi, Pillar of Heaven!”

The entire formation erupted with brilliant light. Izanami’s great sleeves billowed as she thrust both hands upward. A colossal pillar of radiance, powerful enough to pierce the firmament itself, shot straight into the sky, slowly pushing the gigantic city, tens of thousands of meters in size, up into the air.

Footnotes:

Syl: What about Ashikaga Makoto tho? Didn’t she ask Lily to call her something “mother” of the sort? Tho I guess that is more symbolic than actual parenthood since Makoto had never really done much motherly thing for Lily…

Syl: Did she pull out the big black c… no, I can’t say that…

Syl: Yes! Double blwjb! Leave it to the author to make it sound so suggestive even in such context… Or maybe it’s just me with my lewd mind?

Syl: Sorry, someone please wash my mind, I can’t help thinking dirty thoughts.